Lou Piniella’s crew will try to post back-to-back wins on the road tonight for the first time since departing Toronto on June 15th. Jason Marquis is coming off a bad start against the Orioles but has pitched well on the road. Piniella received more than a quality outing from Ted Lilly on Monday and with a well rested pen, if Marquis struggles it could be a short night.

Piniella mentioned before Monday’s game Daryle Ward will likely start in left tonight against Matt Cain and Sean Gallagher will start the finale on Thursday. Piniella was toying with the idea of putting Gallagher in the pen when Carlos Zambrano returned but with the way he finished against the White Sox on Saturday, Sean Marshall will be Piniella’s second lefty option out of the pen starting on Friday in St. Louis.

Jason Marquis is coming off his worst start of the year against the Orioles. Marquis gave up 7 runs on 7 hits in 4 innings in the series finale and struggled to throw strikes. While he only walked 3 batters, he did not appear to have the confidence or command he displayed over his 6 previous starts. Marquis must throw strikes tonight, give his team a chance and keep his skipper out of the bullpen until the later innings.

Marquis has pitched better on the road than at Wrigley and is 3-1 in 7 starts with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.

Tonight will be Marquis’ 5th career start and 6th appearance against the Giants. He is 3-0 in his first 4 starts with a 2.56 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP while holding the Giants to a .198 batting average. Last season Marquis received a no decision in his only outing against San Francisco and allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 7 innings with 5 strikeouts and 5 walks at AT & T Park on August 21st….the Cubs won, 5-1.

Rich Aurilia – 6-for-17 with a triple and a home run

Bengie Molina – 0-for-3

Aaron Rowand – 1-for-9

Omar Vizquel – 1-for-6 with a triple

Randy Winn – 6-for-13 with a double and 2 home runs

Matt Cain always pitches better than his record indicates….Cain’s problems have typically been no run support. Cain is a hard thrower and always pitches well against the Cubs. He is coming off a loss to the Indians in Cleveland….4 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks. In his two previous starts, one win and one loss, Cain struck out 19 and walked only 2 in 15 innings of work. Cain was 2-3 in 5 starts in June with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP with 32 strikeouts and 9 walks in 31 1/3 innings….almost a strikeout per inning.

Cain is 2-3 in 8 home starts this season with a 4.47 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP while holding the opposition to a .241 batting average.

Cain is 3-2 with a complete game in 5 career starts versus the Cubs with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. Last season, 1-1 in 2 starts with a 5.73 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. The Cubs beat Cain in Chicago 12-1 on July 18th and lost to him 4-1 in San Francisco on August 23rd.

Ronny Cedeno – 2-for-6

Mark DeRosa – 1-for-3

Jim Edmonds – 1-for-6

Mike Fontenot – 2-for-4 with a double

Derrek Lee – 2-for-10

Ryan Theriot – 2-for-6 with a double

Daryle Ward – 1-for-5 with a double

Let’s Talk Cubs Baseball….

Quote of the Day

"About the only problem with success is that it does not teach you how to deal with failure." - Tommy Lasorda